Canon has announced three new MiniDV camcorders for their 2007 lineup. The Canon ZR800 is their new entry-level camcorder and includes a 1/6″ 680K CCD, electronic image stabilization, and a 2.7″ widescreen LCD. A 35x optical zoom is also included, the highest yet of Canon’s camcorder line. The ZR800 also features a microphone jack, which Canon has included on entry-level camcorders because of the demand by educators. Read on for the Canon ZR830 and ZR850.
The Canon ZR830 features all the same specifications as the ZR800 minus the microphone jack. It also adds an SD/SDHC card slot for pictures, which are 1024×768 resolution. SDHC cards allow for a much higher capacity than standard SD cards, which were generally limited to 2GB.
Finally, the new Canon ZR850 is exactly the same as the ZR830 but switches the 680K CCD for a higher res 1.07 megapixel CCD. Unfortunately the imager size remains the same at 1/6″, but the resolution upgrade should help video quality a little and also allows for higher resolution still pictures.
All three camcorders will be available in late January. The MSRP for the Canon ZR800 is $279, ZR830 is $299, and the ZR800 will be priced at $329.
